Shorshe Baata diye Shim / Hyacinth Beans cooked in Mustard Paste

{
Shorshe - Mustard
Baata - ground paste of anything ( mustard here )
Shim - Hyacinth beans
}

Right now I have a typing block.

What? Well ... ok ... I did so want to write 'a writer's block'. But one round around blogosphere overflowing with perfect writings complete with humour, tragedy and recipe to the boot ... and I shrink to a size smaller than the shrunk kids in HISTK.

Well .... this is a food blog. I am doling out recipes. So what if I can't give food for the soul? Food for the tummy is enough ... na? ;-) So spake the cook in me.

And so revelling in this thought, here comes a recipe right away.

I knew my Ilish series were getting on everybody's ... including mine ... nerves. So when dear Rush requested some Bong veggie dish with such a 'puhlllleeeaseeee' , I could not ignore her. :-)
So here is one.

The vegetable Shim / Hyacinth bean, which has always been on my much hated list is now tolerated moderately. I like it in a mixed veggie dish ... where it gets squished to oblivion and I get no trace of it ... or sometimes cooked in mustard paste ... with potatoes of course. ( I pair one piece of bean with one piece of potato. ;-) )

Jokes apart, this vegetable tastes very good when it is cooked fresh. The skin should be shiny green and the peas inside should not have grown too much.

If you are not too familiar with the strong taste of mustard , you can add a little posto / poppy seeds and coconut to it when making the paste. Gives a wonderful taste as well as flavour.
I use white mustard seeds along with the black ones when making the paste ... ratio 2:1 ... makes it less pungent.



Need : Fresh hyacinth beans ( remove the string and cut into 2 or 3 pieces),
mustard paste, sliced onions, sliced potatoes,
1 or 2 fresh green chillies, turmeric powder,
salt and sugar to taste, a little cooking oil.

How to : Heat a little oil in a kadhai / wok.
Add the onions and green chillies and fry for a while.

Then add the potatoes and the beans. Fry a while and add the turmeric powder ( just a pinch), mustard paste, salt and sugar.

Add some water and cover.

Cook till the vegetables are tender.

Remove cover and cook till all water dries up.



Serve hot with plain rice.

Ilisher Dim Makha / Fried Hilsa Roe tossed with onions and chillies

I know, I know. This Hilsa thing is getting way too much. My comments section too is reflecting this monotony.
Haven't heard from my veggie friends at all ( Updated : oooooops ... some of them ... not all :-) ) . And I don't blame them. But what can I do?

I have got this fish ... am cooking it ... am trying to eat it. Trying? Yes ... am done now ... no more Ilish for me the whole year now. But when I am cooking it after all, how can I not post the recipes?

It has been ages since I posted a recipe a day ... but I really want to get this over with now.

Unfortunately I have no vegetarian substitute to give for these recipes. So please bear with me ... there will be only a couple more posts on this ... promise. :-)

This time, since I got a huge bulk of Ilish roe, I made good use of it. After enjoying the plain fried roe, I still had some more left. So decided to make a makha (mix) with some fresh onions and mustard oil.

Makha is very common in Bengali cuisine .... rather ... daily meals. The raw mustard oil gives a perfect flavour and turns any bland and boring stuff to simply exotic to taste.
This is called the Ilisher dimer jhura too.

I really wish I had some fresh green chillies ... but I had run out of them. Instead I dry roasted some whole dry chillies and broke them on the makha. That turned out great too. But if you are trying this ... do make it with fresh green chillies.

Need : Ilisher dim / Hilsa roe, marinated with salt and turmeric, chopped onions[ and green chillies], whole dry red chillies, some mustard oil.

How to : Heat a little mustard oil in a kadhai / wok and fry the marinated roe.
Remove and cool.
Dry roast (or fry with a little oil) the red chillies.

Break the roe ... it will crumble easily. Now add the chopped onions [and the green chillies]. Crush the red chillies on it.
Pour a spoonful of raw mustard oil. Mix well.



Done!! :-)
Great on the side with plain rice.

Ilish Maacher Dim diye Ambol / Hilsa Roe in a Sweet and Sour Gravy

Ambol or Tauk/Tawk is a sour dish that is usually served at the end of a proper Bengali meal. The aim is to create enough salivation to aid in digestion and also to clean the palate for the final round ... i.e. the sweet dish.

Ambol usually has tamarind for the sourness ... but is sometimes made with pieces of dried mango too. Usually different types of small fish like Chuno punti or Mourala is used.

Sometimes vegetables like the bhindi / okra and brinjal/eggplant can be used too to make a vegetarian ambol.

This time I had some good Ilish roe. So like the ambol made with the Ilish head back home ( recipe coming up next ) , I made it with the Ilish roe/dim.

The Ilish roe/dim itself is so flavourful that just frying it is enough to chomp on and enjoy.But when in the sour gravy, it turns even more flavourful. Too good!



Need : Ilisher bhaja dim / Hilsa roe marinated with a little turmeric powder and salt and fried in mustard oil,
some fresh curry leaves, whole dry red chillies, mustard seeds,
a little cooking oil, tamarind pulp diluted with water, salt and sugar to taste.

How to : Cut the fried fish roe into bite sized pieces.

Heat a little oil in a kadhai / wok / pan. Add the mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add the red chillies and then the tamarind water.

Bring to a boil. Adjust salt and sugar. It is entirely up to you to decide how you like it ... a little too sour ... or a little more sweet ... or salty and sour ...

Add the ilish maccher dim / fish roe pieces carefully and keep boiling.
Do not stir too much ... the roe might break.

The consistency of the gravy for an ambol / tok / tauk is very thin ... almost watery. So keep that in mind when boiling it.



Serve cool or cold with rice.
I personally like it after keeping it in the fridge for a while ... with plain rice and some fresh green chillies.

All you fish loving folks ... enjoy!! :-)